English dictionary



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English adjective: critical

1. critical marked by a tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws


SamplesA critical attitude.


Similarcaptious, censorious, deprecative, faultfinding, hypercritical, overcritical, scathing, searing, vituperative


See alsosarcastic, unfavorable, unfavourable


Antonymsuncritical

2. critical at or of a point at which a property or phenomenon suffers an abrupt change especially having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction


SamplesA critical temperature of water is 100 degrees C--its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure.
Critical mass.
Go critical.


Similarsupercritical


Attributecriticality


Domain categorychemical science, chemistry, natural philosophy, physics


Antonymsnoncritical

3. critical characterized by careful evaluation and judgment


SamplesA critical reading.
A critical dissertation.
A critical analysis of Melville's writings.


Similarappraising, discriminative, evaluative, judicial


See alsodiscerning, scholarly


Antonymsuncritical, noncritical

4. critical urgently needed; absolutely necessary


SamplesA critical element of the plan.
Critical medical supplies.
Vital for a healthy society.
Of vital interest.


Synonymsvital


Similarindispensable


Antonymsdispensable

5. critical forming or having the nature of a turning point or crisis


SamplesA critical point in the campaign.
The critical test.


Synonymsdecisive


Similarcrucial, important


Antonymsnoncrucial

6. critical being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency


SamplesA critical shortage of food.
A critical illness.
An illness at the critical stage.


Similaracute, dangerous, desperate, dire, grave, grievous, life-threatening, serious, severe


See alsocrucial, important


Attributecrisis


Antonymsnoncritical, noncrucial

7. critical of or involving or characteristic of critics or criticism


SamplesCritical acclaim.









Based on WordNet 3.0 copyright © Princeton University.
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